East Carolina promotes interim coach Harrell to full-time role

GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — East Carolina is promoting interim football coach Blake Harrell to the permanent job after he led the Pirates to four straight wins.

The school announced the move on Wednesday, roughly five weeks after Harrell took over when Mike Houston was fired. Harrell had worked as defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach since his initial hiring in January 2020.

In the interim role, Harrell led ECU (7-4, 5-2 American Athletic Conference) to victories over Temple, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa and North Texas. That pushed the Pirates to bowl eligibility for the third time in four seasons.

During that four-game run, ECU has averaged 45.8 points and 535 yards of offense. And during the previous four seasons, ECU allowed 27.3 points per game with him as defensive coordinator, the program's best four-year run in the better part of a decade.

In a statement, athletic director Jon Gilbert said Harrell has “laid out a detailed vision” in leading the program amid the changing landscape of revenue sharing and players being able to profit from endorsements using their name, image and likeness.

ECU closes the regular season on Friday at home against Navy.

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